The Court of Appeal has today upheld the protection of the law for vulnerable people by confirming the High Court judgment that denied protection from prosecution for those who assist another to take their own life. Debbie Purdy lost her appeal and was refused leave to take her case to the House of Lords.
Debbie Purdy, 45, who has multiple sclerosis, wanted to know if her husband, the Cuban violinist Omar Puente, would be prosecuted if he helped her to travel abroad to die in Switzerland, where the practice of assisted suicide is legal. She therefore sought guidelines from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the circumstances in which a person would be liable to prosecution for helping another commit suicide. She was initially granted permission for a judicial review so that the High Court could decide whether the DPP had acted illegally by not providing guidance on how those decisions had been reached. The two High Court judges held that Parliament would need to change the law before there would be any obligation on the DPP to issue such guidance. Mrs Purdy then appealed and has today lost her appeal.
The Suicide Act 1961 states that anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures the suicide of another, or an attempt by another to commit suicide”, can be imprisoned for up to 14 years. The statutory provisions make it clear that no prosecution can take place unless the DPP consents. The requirement that the DPP should consent to the prosecution is a very important factor, intended to secure consistency, prevent abuse, provide central control and take account of mitigating factors. This is why Mrs Purdy wanted the DPP to publish a prosecution policy on assisted suicide. She has decided that when she reaches the stage in her illness when she no longer wants to live, she will commit suicide. The practice of assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US state of Oregon.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre commented earlier on the Debbie Purdy case:
“The law is there to protect innocent people. Someone who has been assisted to commit suicide will no longer be able to give an account of whether coercion was involved. If people are vulnerable they may feel under pressure to die and the fear is that the right to die could all too soon become a duty to die.”
The Christian Legal Centre believes that legalising assisted suicide would put vulnerable people at risk and make them susceptible to exploitation and abuse. This view was upheld by the House of Lords vote on the Joffe Bill in 2006. Moreover, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has recently told the media that he is ‘totally against’ changing laws on euthanasia. Speaking in December 2008, he said that it was not for him to create laws to ‘put pressure on people to end their lives’:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7804044.stm.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Question Time earlier the same month, Mr Brown said this issue was a ‘matter of conscience’ but he said he had ‘always opposed legislation for assisted deaths’. He made it clear that ‘it is necessary to ensure that there is never a case in this country where a sick or elderly person feels under pressure to agree to an assisted death or somehow feels it is the expected thing to do’:
Parliament is currently considering the Coroners and Justice Bill, which includes provisions that seek to outlaw websites that encourage suicide as well as modernising the language of the old offence of ‘aiding and abetting’ suicide to ‘encouraging or assisting’ suicide. Unfortunately, the pro-euthanasia lobby is arguing that this timely and sensible modernisation of the law that would give better protection to vulnerable people should be amended so as to legalise assisting the suicide of a seriously ill person. The Government’s efforts in seeking to tighten the law should be welcomed and MPs should be encouraged to resist the amendments that have been tabled due to pressure from pro-euthanasia groups.
If you would like to help us continue our efforts in upholding the sanctity of life—including the right to life of vulnerable people—please click on the link below to donate:
http://www.christianlegalcentre.com/view.php?id=196.
Court of Appeal Judgment:
http://www.christianlegalcentre.com/docs/debbiepurdy.pdf.
Care Not Killing Press Release:
http://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/?show=684.
BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7861199.stm.
CNN News:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/03/uk.assisted.suicide.
Reuters UK:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKTRE5123KF20090203.
The Times:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5650931.ece.